The White Wolf
by Lynx Gunning
Summary: *right after Vegeta loses to Goku in the first season* Bulma's run-in with a familiar black wolf changes her's and Vegeta's life forever. Especially when the White Wolf returns. PG for violence/language.
1. The Shadow Wolf

:psychotic laughter: I haven't had breakfast this morning, so needless to say, I'm a bit on the insane side, ja? Yeehaw!!  
  
Summary: {Takes place right after Vegeta gets his butt kicked by Goku:sniff:} Bulma is saved from a pack of street dogs by an oddly familiar black wolf. The wolf is horribly injured in the fight, so Bulma takes him home to heal him. But, this mysterious black wolf has a deeper secret, that changes Bulma's life forever.  
  
Disclaimer: Uh huh. . . what makes you think that some country music-loving seventh grader whose friend's claim she needs therapy would own something like DBZ? That's what I thought, too.  
  
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The rain was coming down hard, making visibility about zero. Bulma never saw the feral dogs in the alley that she passed, and she didn't even hear their growls until it was too late.  
  
At the sound of the deep snarls and barks, Bulma turned to see a giant Rottweiler lunging at her, jaws open wide. She was too scared to even scream for help, she just stood petrified, glued to the spot. At the last second, however, a silent black shape crashed into the Rott's ribs, sending it crashing into the brick wall with a sickening crack. the black creature landed lightly in front of Bulma and whirled on the three dogs that were with the Rott, snarling and growling.  
  
The first feral dog to challenge the Shadow was a silver gray Siberian Husky. The Husky rushed the Shadow and leaped for its shoulder. The Shadow jumped over the Husky and tumbled onto the sidewalk behind it, ragaining its footing in seconds. Before the Husky could react, the Shadow lunged forward, grabbing the thick ruff of fur of the Husky's neck. The Shadow and the dog spun circles round each other, the Shadow digging its fangs deeper into the Husky's neck and the Husky clamping its jaws shut on air. Soon the Husky fell from blood loss, and the Shadow turned to greet the next challenger: a Bloodhound. The Bloodhound couldn't match the Shadow's speed, and was quickly disposed of in the same fashion as the Husky.  
  
All this time Bulma had backed up only about six feet. The sight of the Shadow's unorthadox fighting was captivating.  
  
After the Bloodhound came a Golden Retriever-Rough Collie mix. The Shadow's feet slipped a bit on the pools of blood and the Golden Collie took the chance to close its jaws on the Shadow's ear then the shoulder. The Shadow managed to break free, but blood was streaming down its right shoulder and the right side of its face. Behind the Golden Collie was a small terrier of indiscernible pedigree. The small dog ran yelping into the night, not wanting to tangle withe the Shadow in case its companion fell. The distraction worked well, and the Shadow lunged for the Golden Collie's throat, hitting the mark and breaking the jugular. The Golden Collie fell beside its pack members.  
  
The continuous loss of blood caused the Shadow to falter and crumple down underneath the streetlight Bulma was standing under. The Shadow, in fact, was an incredibly large black wolf, his red eyes dimming as the life left him slowly. Bulma looked back over her shoulder. Right behind her was home, and she decided to repay the wolf by healing him.  
  
Bulma carried the wolf as best she could up to CC and through the front door. Without taking off her jacket or boots or anything, she stumbled into the med lab with the wolf, setting it down on the metal table. She threw off the jacket and boot as quickly as possible and ran about the room grabbing gauze and antibiotics. She never noticed the wolf watching her intently, a slight grin, if you could call it that, forming on its lips.  
  
The wolf didn't protest any when Bulma wrapped its injured shoulder with gauze after applying a stinging antiseptic. She did her best to wrap the ear up, which had been torn to ribbons. The wolf slowly drifted off to sleep as soon as the procedure was completed, breathing heavily.  
  
Carrying the wolf into her bedroom and laying it on her bed, Bulma thought, *What would a wolf be doing in the city? And why did it save me?* She looked at the wolf carefully, then smiled slightly. *Why did :he: save me?*  
  
After changing out of the sopping wet clothes and into a thin nightshirt and matching silken pants, Bulma climbed onto the bed beside the wolf. She noticed for the first time the strange tuft of fur that seemed to stick out every which way on the wolf's head. Stroking the wolf's silky fur, Bulma said, almost to the wolf himself, "I think I'll call you Shadow."  
  
The wolf breathed deeply. "I would appreciate it if you didn't," he said quietly.  
  
Bulma sat up, straight and rigid. "Y-you talk!?"  
  
"Of course I talk. What? Do the wolves of Earth not talk?"  
  
The wolf's voice sounded familiar. Too familiar. "You. . . you're not from Earth?"  
  
"Hmmmmm," the wolf said, as if he was thinking. "No. I'm Saijin."  
  
*Saijin!? But, the only Saijins on Earth that I know of are Goku and that damned Vegeta! Oh no!* Bulma looked at the wolf's now open eyes. There was a laughing expression to them, one of gratefulness even, but those eyes were unmistakable. "No. . . y-you're. . . Vegeta, aren't you?"  
  
The wolf grinned. "Well, aren't we clever?" He struggled to sit up, favoring his right leg. Looking at his injured leg, he sighed. "Damn dogs. You're lucky I was there. They would've killed you."  
  
Bulma backed up a foot or so, then she stopped. "Why?"  
  
"Huh?" Vegeta looked at her curiously, his black nose twitching.  
  
"Why did you save me?"  
  
Vegeta shook his head to settle the fur on his neck. "You won't believe me, but-" The doorbell cut him off. He stared disdainfully at the door as Bulma jumped up and threw on one of her windbreakers she had carelessly thrown on a nearby chair. Vegeta hopped off the bed backwards to avoid putting any stress on his leg and limped after Bulma.  
  
Going down the stairs presented a problem, and Bulma already had the door open by the time Vegeta reached the fifth step down. He stopped to look at a picture of Bulma and Yamcha on the wall and growled in spite of himself. When he went to continue down the stairs, he tripped himself up and went rolling down the rest of the stairs, yelping. He got lucky, and Bulma caught him before he reached the floor.  
  
Bulma carried him cradled in her arms on his back like a baby into the living room, where Yamcha happened to be sitting on the couch taking his wet shoes off. Vegeta's eyes narrowed.  
  
Yamcha looked up and saw the giant black dog in Bulma's arms and said, "When did you get a dog?"  
  
Vegeta sneered and licked Bulma's face. It was all Bulma could do to keep from dropping him, and instead set him down carefully. He stood a few inches above her waist.  
  
Yamcha got up to give Bulma a kiss, but Vegeta snarled at him, fangs bared and hackles raised, and all that night Yamcha couldn't get within three feet of Bulma, unless he wanted his hand bit off.  
  
It turned out that the storm had grown too bad for Yamcha to continue all the way home, and he instead stopped at CC. The three of them stayed up late, but eventually, Yamcha fell asleep in a large recliner, and Bulma laid down on the couch, too tired to climb the stairs. Vegeta lay like he was Bulma's personal doggy blanket with his hed resting on her chest. He watched the rain fall steadily for another hour, but soon fell asleep himself.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Bulma woke up an hour or more before dawn to find Yamcha gone and Vegeta sleeping peacefully, his tail wagging slightly. He didn't look dangerous when he was asleep. In fact, he looked like a :very: big, helpless puppy. She ran her fingers through his long, thick fur, watching it glimmer violets and blues and silvers in the moonlight.  
  
*Why :did: he save me?* Bulma thought again. *And now what am I going to do with him? I can't throw him out on the streets. He'll die! Oh. . . why do I even care!?* She thought back to the night before, seeing Vegeta risk his life against those feral dogs to save hers. *He came out of nowhere! It was almost like he. . . :followed: me home.*  
  
Vegeta's eyes open a little, just enough to see Bulma's face. "Do you really believe who I am?" He asked quietly. Bulma nodded, but there was a hesitation in her reply. "You falter. I'll prove it to you." Vegeta lifted his body a few inches from hers, and his entire body glowed a crimson red. The light blurred and reshaped itself. When the glow faded, Bulma saw Vegeta's true form leaning over her, the only thing left of his armor was the torn remains of pants.  
  
Bulma gasped quietly, to scared to move or say anything. She shrank back, but didn't get far. "Please. . . don't hurt me," she pleaded.  
  
Vegeta shook his head. "Do you think I would? You rescued me. You could've left me out in the rain to die, but you didn't." He sat back and looked at the recliner. "He left?" When there was no reply from Bulma, he said, "Good. I don't like him." His eyes narrowed. "There's something. . . not right about him. His smell when he was around you. Dishonesty. I can't pinpoint it, but that was definate. Dishonesty."  
  
"What do you mean?" Bulma demanded, anger replacing fear.  
  
"That's just it. I don't know :what: I mean," Vegeta answered helplessly. He gave her an oddly understanding look. "Why are you angry with me?"  
  
"You tricked me!" Bulma screamed at him. "You pretended to be some good Samaratin dog to get in here!"  
  
"Hardly," Vegeta muttered. "I saved you. Plain and simple. No strings attached."  
  
"But why?"  
  
"Why? I told you. You wouldn't believe," Vegeta said casually. He caught the look Bulma threw him. "On second thought. . . you caught my eye out on the streets, so I followed you. I was hoping to find someone who would give me a place to stay until it was safer for me. That was all it was. But when I saw those dogs. . . I got too emotionally involved, as the government would put it."  
  
"Too emotionally involved?" Bulma said it practically to herself. "Does that mean you cared for me as more than just a meal ticket?"  
  
Vegeta nodded. "Close," he hinted.  
  
Bulma's eyes grew wider. "I think I understand. But. . . how can I trust you? You tried to kill my boyfriend, my friends, and countless other people I most likely will never even know!"  
  
"Because I know now that they weren't the ones I'm angry with," Vegeta said calmly.  
  
*He's so calm,* Bulma thought. *He's nothing like he was on television! He doesn't seem like a crazed maniac anymore! Maybe, he's right. . .*  
  
"I know I shouldn't ask, but. . . can I still stay?"  
  
"Well. . . my parents won't be home for two weeks, so there's nobody to stop me from saying. . . yes. You can stay. But, you have to pull your own weight around here, and if any of my friends come, you have to change into your wolf form. And don't be mean to them. They might get suspicious."  
  
Vegeta nodded. "Alright. Fine with me." He stared at her with an emotionless expression that sent a shiver down Bulma's spine. "One more thing. . ."  
  
Bulma didn't have the chance to ask "What?" because Vegeta was already kissing her. It was obvious to Bulma that there was nothing innocent about Vegeta's intentions, and she was right yet again.  
  
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Well? Bleh. . . it's bad, I know. But, what can you expect from a psychopath like me? Hehe. . .  
  
Okey dokers. . . the next chapter jumps ahead a year (?) later, when the gang is on Namek. Funness! 


	2. The White Wolf

Wheeee! I hate using my aunt's internet. She doesn't have broadband, so I'll write the next chapter and post it tomorrow when I'm back home!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. Der. . . morons.  
  
I DO own Alex and JX and Panthara, though, so booya!!  
  
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Bulma absently fiddled with a strange looking gun, oblivious to the thin, lanky white wolf sneaking up behind her. It raised up on its hind legs, front legs raised high in the air, as if it planned on knocking Bulma unconcious. Before it could bring its paws down, Bulma flipped the gun around upside down over her shoulder so that it was aimed, point blank, at the wolf's forehead.  
  
"Don't even think about it," Bulma scolded, bringing the gun back down to set it on the table. The wolf dropped down to all fours again and walked around to face Bulma.  
  
"How'd ya know?" It asked.  
  
"I'm your mother, Alex. I know everything," Bulma replied.  
  
"Do not!" The wolf, Alex, sat back on his haunches and crossed his forelegs. He glowed red. The light faded to reveal a thin, scraggy half- Saijin about nine years old. His black and sky blue-streaked hair stuck out in odd directions all over the place. Alex's tail, sky blue striped black, like a tiger's, lashed impatiently. The bright blue eye sparkled, but was obviously annoyed. His right eye was a milky white, blinded and crossed by three thin scars.  
  
"I see Vegeta taught you how to change at will, then?"  
  
"Yeah," Alex said impatiently.  
  
"Where is your father?"  
  
"I was gonna ask you. I ain't seen 'im all mornin'."  
  
"Alex," Bulma scolded, "watch your grammar. 'I ain't seen 'im all mornin'?' Your father didn't teach you that, did he?"  
  
"Nope. Panthara did."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"My friend. She talks like that. She has a funny accent, too."  
  
"Be nice, boy." Bulma glared at him.  
  
"That's what Dad said."  
  
"Vegeta has no room to talk about 'funny accents'," Bulma said, going back to working on the gun.  
  
"A.J.!" A female voice called out from far away. "A.J.! We gotta go! JX says he got somethin'!"  
  
"Is that Panthara?" Bulma raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Uh huh," Alex said, looking over in the direction of the voice. "Don't give me that look! She's a girl and she's a friend, but that don't make her my girlfriend!" Alex rushed off without waiting for his mother's arguement, flying off too high to see.  
  
Bulma shook her head. "Not your girlfriend, huh? You won't be saying that for very long."  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
On a nearby island, Alex landed clumsily in front of Panthara. Panthara was thin and lanky, like Alex. But, she was also a tiger: white and black striped fur, a blunt muzzle filled with deadly fangs, sharp blue eyes, and a thick lashing tail.  
  
"JX says he got a signal from somethin'. It ain't yer dad, but it looks interestin'," Panthara greeted Alex. Her accent was distinctly country- western. She looked the part, too. She always wore a black Stetson, a matching duster with a design of the great white tiger, Vladimir, on the back, and black leather chaps embroidered with flames on the bottoms. Panthara was known to be great with horses, too, and had always dreamed of becoming a rancher with a ranch in Montana. Alex admired her, and took after the wrangler style, except that he favored white with a picture of his father's wolf and dragon on the back of his duster. Their dream was to someday move to the U.S. and live on a horse ranch together with Alex's best friend and "pet" dog, the Great Dane android, Jonathon Xavier: JX.  
  
"Is it really worth the trouble, Panther?" Alex looked skeptical. Panther was his nickname for Panthara, and was a whole lot easier to say than Panthara.  
  
"O' course it is, A.J.! We ain't got nothin' better to do anyways!" Panthara called Alex "A.J." because his full name was Alexander James Ice- Storm. . . and nobody had ever bothered him about his last name, so it ended at "Ice-Storm". He often chose the surname Drache, because it meant "Dragon" in German. That seemed to stick, making his full name Alexander James Ice-Storm Drache.  
  
"Yeah, we got somethin' better to do! What about that giant ship beyond that rise, o'er there?"  
  
"That's Frieza's. Vegeta told us not to go near it," Panthara practically whispered.  
  
"We ain't seen my dad anywheres all mornin'! He ain't gonna care!"  
  
Panthara was gullible, so went along with Alex's idea. Leaping over rivers and hills, Panthara, in her tigeress form, and Alex, in his wolf form, made good time in reaching Frieza's ship. They hid behind a nearby ridge, watching the guards talk among themselves. They hid well for a long time, but one of the guards soon grew suspicious that they were being watched, so set about searching the entire island.  
  
The tiger and wolf had little time to react, and were found when they ran. Nets were thrown over them and they were drug into the ship and thrown into a small room. There, several guards poked fun at them, calling them names and beating them. Alex wasn't going to tolerate it, and he howled an agonizingly high note that rang throughout the ship and across the island and the seas. The distress call alerted Frieza, who wasted no time in inspecting the prisoners, who had changed back into their true forms.  
  
"I know you two," Frieza sneered. "You boy. . . you're Vegeta's boy aren't you? I thought so. And you, little tiger, are Kakarott's(sp?) long-lost daughter! Oh this is something!"  
  
"I'll have you know," Alex taunted, "that my father will come here and save us!"  
  
"Oh will he?"  
  
The guards laughed at the confused look on Alex's face. Panthara's anger was mounting, and she let forth what she thought was a powerful roar. It came out as mere snarl. The guards laughed harder.  
  
A deep, throaty growl stopped them all dead. All heads turned to the doorway, to see Vegeta as a wolf braced in the doorway, ready to kill the first man that moved. Without warning, Vegeta dove headlong into the room, kicking, biting, and scratching any guards who were unfortunate enough to be found too close to him. In one quick swipe, the net was cut and Panthara and Alex freed. Shapeshifting quickly, they raced after Vegeta through the corridors and doorways until they were outside. They didn't stop there. They kept going. Into the air and onto a neighboring island. They island hopped for three straight minutes, never stopping, until they reached a deep cave.  
  
Inside the safety of the cave, Vegeta gave Alex and Panthara a thorough verbal thrashing.  
  
"I told you never to go anywhere near that place! And you disobeyed me! If you ever disobey me again, I won't save you, and you'll end up dead! Do you hear me?"  
  
Panthara and Alex just nodded.  
  
"Good. JX, take these two to their room," Vegeta ordered the Great Dane.  
  
JX escorted the tiger and the wolf into a back chamber. "I do not think it is a good idea to leave this island for a while," JX whispered.  
  
Alex dropped back without JX's noticing and walked to his father's side.  
  
Vegeta was leaning against the moutainside outside, back in his true form. Alex sat down and hung his head, never looking at Vegeta. "Dad," Alex said quietly. "Dad, I'm sorry."  
  
"I'm sure you are, James," Vegeta said in the same hurt tone, "I'm sure you are." He looked over at his son, who had also returned to his true form. He was looking into the injured eye, and thought back to the first time Alex found himself in trouble, and Vegeta couldn't get there in time. Vegeta had promised to never let that happen again. "Alex. . . you know what I said wasn't true, don't you?"  
  
Alex just blinked, but Vegeta knew he was listening. "After that bear attack. . . I promised to never let anything happen to you, didn't I?"  
  
Turning his head just enough to see Vegeta, Alex said, "But the bear attack wasn't my fault. This was."  
  
"I don't care. You're all I have here, besides your mother, and we can't be together anyways. Just. . . promise me you'll listen to me from now on."  
  
"I promise," Alex said. Then he looked directly at Vegeta and grinned. "But, ya hafta admit, the look on those guards' faces was pretty funny! I don't reckon they've ever been so scared in their lives!"  
  
Vegeta laughed quietly. "No. I don't think so either."  
  
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That mighta been shorter than the last one, but that's okay! Right? Hehe. . . started getting a little "Lion King"-ish by the end, didn't it? Sorry. It won't happen again.  
  
The next chapter jumps ahead about 12 (?) years, at the tournament. I got KT to volunteer to be in the next chapter, which means ya'll gotta put up with me and Katie again! Hehe. . . 


	3. The White Wolf's Return

Grr. . . there's no soda in the house! I think I'm gonna go insane! There is :no: caffeine whatsoever in this house!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, yadda yadda yadda, etc., etc., etc. . . You get the idea.  
  
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"I hear a buncha fighters from the US came to the tournament to fight!" Krillin told anyone who would listen.  
  
"Oh joy," Vegeta muttered. Bulma elbowed him and gave him a strange look. "No," Vegeta hissed, so only Bulma could hear, "I :don't: think it's Alex. He would never leave his precious horses to fight! The boy hates fighting!"  
  
"That was twelve years ago, Vegeta. He was a lot like you then. I can only imagine, now."  
  
"Still," Vegeta tried to argue, but an all-too familiar voice caught his attention.  
  
"Well, A.J.! Looky what the cat drug in!" Panthara was leaning against a cement wall, dressed in her typical cowgirl get-up.  
  
There was no answer.  
  
Panthara punched somebody who was standing behind her. It wasn't Alex, that was obvious. It was a young tiger. Or at least is looked like a tiger at first. Its tail was far too bushy and the ears too pointed for it to be a full tiger. It definately had some wolf in it.  
  
"What?" The tiger-wolf whined.  
  
"Where's yer father?" Panthara whispered.  
  
"He's in another arguement with Lynx and Katie, over there," :he: said, pointing towards an opposite corner of the intersection. "Somethin' 'bout lettin' me fight, I'd reckon."  
  
Panthara silently pulled out a sapphire and bronze boomerang and threw it in Alex's direction. It caught his hat and then came back to Panthara. Alex, not knowing what hit his Stetson, looked at every single person standing there. He wore a denim button-up shirt and black leather chaps. With the Stetson on, he looked like a true wrangler, which he had become. His hair was in better order, cut short and spiked, but still black streaked sky blue. He looked at Panthara and saw her waving the boomerang back and forth.  
  
Grabbing his hat, he started yelling at Panthara, "Gods rot you, woman! Do you :enjoy: makin' a fool o' me in public! 'Cause I'll be damned if I don't kill ya fer that!"  
  
"Ha ha," Panthara mocked. "Yer startin' to sound like yer old man, A.J.! Ain't he, Vegeta?"  
  
Vegeta was frozen. Everybody was staring at him with the same "Do they know you?" look.  
  
ChiChi (sp?[imanidiot] ) wasn't paying any attention to Vegeta, however. "Panthara," she whispered. "You're alive."  
  
"Damn right, that rotted tiger's still alive!" Alex yelled. "She ain't gonna be when I'm through with 'er, though!"  
  
Panthara shook her head. "Now, Alex. . . think about poor Libre-lobo here. You can't kill me. The poor boy wouldn't have a mother then!"  
  
ChiChi stopped midstep towards Panthara. *My daughter. . . has a son!?* She thought. She hadn't seen Panthara since Gohan was born. Eighteen years, which meant Panthara would've been 20. But far from it. Panthara, like Alex, had advanced aging, and was already eight years old by the time Gohan was born. Panthara's age was uncalculable, just like Alex's.  
  
Libre-lobo, the tiger-wolf, narrowed his two-toned eyes. "Honestly, people. You call yourself my parents." With that, he stalked off down the sidewalk without another word to anybody.  
  
"Not your girlfriend, huh, Alex?" Bulma taunted.  
  
Alex took off the dark Oakley's that he wore to cover up his injured eye, and the Z-senshi (A/N: I read that in this magazine my friends Katie and Allison have.) drew back a bit. Alex's eye was still alabaster white, as it always had been. "Huh. That was twelve years ago, mother," Alex said flatly, emphasizing the word "mother". "Things. . . and people change."  
  
"You still said she was just a friend."  
  
"I'll say it again: I said that twelve years ago. I was only nine years old. I wasn't interested in girls at the time," Alex retorted through gritted teeth. "And besides, it's not like I married her or anything."  
  
Panthara swung her paw around into Alex's face, not actually hitting him, just shoving the silver engagement ring in his face. Then she held it up for everybody else to see. "See folks? Never listen to a wolf."  
  
"Oh, gods rot you," Alex spat, putting the Oakley's and Stetson back on and following slowly after Libre-lobo.  
  
ChiChi had broken out of her reverie by now. "He's the father!?" Panthara just nodded. "But. . . he looks just like Vegeta!"  
  
"Exactly," Panthara said. "He's actually the secret Bulma and Vegeta have been keeping for twelve years, if you wanna get technical."  
  
"This isn't happening," Vegeta growled to himself. But the rest of the gang still gave him a cold, piercing stare, Yamcha's the angriest of the lot.  
  
"What!?" Yamcha yelled. "What do you mean 'secret', tiger? You mean to tell me that. . . that :cowboy: is Bulma's and Vegeta's son, born how long ago?"  
  
"Twelve years. And yes, that's what I'm sayin'." Panthara stared coldly at Vegeta. "C'mon now, you knew they would find out sooner or later, didn't you? You can't keep a cur like Alex a secret for very long." She shook her head to settle her fur. "He didn't come back to fight, y'know. He came back to tell your secret. Yer lucky he kept quiet the whole time we was on Namek, y'hear? Sneakin' round the place like you told 'im to. And people ask why he came to be such a loud mouthed wrangler."  
  
Yamcha looked at Bulma then. "That wolf, the one you called Shadow. That was him, wasn't it? That wolf was Vegeta." Bulma couldn't do anything but nod.  
  
Before another word could be said, Libre-lobo skidded up, hollering, "They're closin' up the sign-up in three minutes, ya'll! You wanna fight, ya'll best stop talkin' and move!"  
  
Everybody but ChiChi stopped arguing and got to moving. But ChiChi wanted to ask Panthara one final question. "'Libre-lobo? What does that mean?"  
  
Libre-lobo stood up straighter and said, "It's Spanish for Freedom-wolf. My dad made it up."  
  
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Sorry it's so short. Writer's block. I won't jump times in the next chapter, though. Basically Libre-lobo kicks major @-$$ in the Junior Division, and Alex fights Krillin. Not gonna be pretty. lol  
  
Sorry, Katie, that yer name was only mentioned, but you'll be in the next one more. I needa know if yer up to bein' a fighter or just sittin' in the stands. 


	4. The White Wolf's Return 2

Alrighty, I've got my sugar water, the phone's sittin' on the computer desk. . . I think I'm set, ja? Alrighty then.  
  
Disclaimer: If I have to say this one more time, I'm gonna scream. I don't own DBZ, and this is the :last: time I will say it!  
  
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The young girl known as Lynx layed on a bench, curled up like a dog, waiting for her chance to fight. She was supposed to fight in the Junior Division, but Alex got his point across that he knew for a fact that Libre- lobo and Lynx would be fighting each other eventually. There wouldn't have been a stadium left, so she got to fight with the adults. That left a very small chance of her having to face someone dreadfully powerful, like Alex or Panthara.  
  
She twisted her neck around, causing it to pop and crack quietly. Nobody gave her a second glance. *Grr. . . rotted humans. Hehe. . . this'll get a jump out of 'em, it will!* She rose to a dog-style sitting position and arched her back into a sickening angle, producing a loud cracking from the base of her spine to around her collar bone. A few people froze and stared with disgusted expressions, but went back to whatever it was they were doing before. Just to finish off her routine, she popped her knuckles then her toes.  
  
Katie, the girl beside her, sat through the whole show without flinching. "Would you stop that. They're looking at us!"  
  
"Huh," Lynx sniffed. "Ruin muh fun, why doncha." She laid back down and focused her attention on Vegeta. The wolf tail she had acquired through black magic tapped silently against the bench. Alex approached the two and Lynx immediately sat at attention, saluting him like this was the army. "G- general, sir! What is it?"  
  
"I'm warnin' you two now, doncha dare change wolf out there durin' a match," Alex said in a hushed tone. "We don' want these people knowin' there's werewolves about, y'hear?"  
  
"Yessir, General." Lynx nodded.  
  
"And don' call me 'General'! As far as these folks is concerned, I'm nothin' but an uneducated trail boss from Montana," Alex ordered, glancing back over his shoulder at a newcomer who looked like Goku but whose hair was tinted a reddish-brown. "There he is. Now we wait for DeLito."  
  
"W-wait a minute, Gen- I mean, boss! Raven and Diego are fightin' in the tournament, too? Why didn't ya'll tell me?"  
  
"It was a need ta know thing. And you. . . didn't needa know!" Alex stepped aside as the newcomer came forwards. "Now girls-" Katie and Lynx stared at him angrily. He always treated them like little kids. "-when DeLito gets here, don' let that pompous ass talk to no one, y'hear?" The two girls nodded. DeLito was very social, which was strange for a Saijin, and it was hard to keep him from talking to every living thing. The newcomer, Kyleran Raven, had caught DeLito talking to a tree once. Alex put him in handcuffs and threw him in a closet for that.  
  
As Kyleran and Alex walked away, Kyleran said, "We've got a whole squadron of Blackhawks hoverin' out there, and two Mitsubishi Zeros circlin' the place. I hope you know what you're don', mate." He had an Australian accent, and Lynx had told him once that he sounded like Steve Irwin. Lynx learned the hard way that you never tell a Saijin that he sounds like the Crocodile Hunter. But, truth be told, he sounded :identical: to Steve Irwin.  
  
"Steve Irwin," Katie coughed. Her and Lynx started cracking up laughing. It was always a joke among them that Saijins had incredibly comical accents.  
  
Another voice stopped any hopes of converstion. "¡Hola! ¿Cómo usted es, damas?"  
  
Katie and Lynx stared casually at DeLito Diego. DeLito hardly fit the description of "Saijin". He was tall, thin, and wide-eyed. His hair, a dark crimson-brown, was cut a length somewhere between long and short, and it was always greased back. Many people, Alex included, often said something about DeLito, great, intelligent, noble DeLito, being hopelessly behind the times. He was always dressed like some rebel biker, reminding Lynx and Katie of the greasers from S.E. Hinton's "The Outsiders".  
  
"Màs o mènos, Señor Diego," Lynx said in an annoyed tone. DeLito was often a bit too friendly and outgoing for Lynx's liking. "¿Y tù?"  
  
"Bien. Gracias," DeLito replied, nodding.  
  
"Alright! Alright! Enough with the Spanish!" Katie yelled. "DeLito, I :know: you can speak English."  
  
DeLito looked like he had been smacked in the face. "Sorry, Katie. W- where's the General?"  
  
"Alex? He's over there," Lynx said, pointing at Alex, who was busy arguing with Kyleran about something, most likely the shapeshifting. "He said not to call him General. And not to talk to nobody."  
  
"Sí," DeLito said, bowing slightly. "Por supuesto."  
  
"Jener arme Idiot," Lynx said sadly. "Rührend."  
  
Katie nodded, and watched Panthara swagger in like some sort of princess. Which, in a few months, would most likely be true. The tiger caught sight of Kyleran, and she ran up to him calling, "Uncle Kyle! Uncle Kyle!"  
  
It was all poor Kyleran could do to keep from falling over when Panthara hugged him. As he put it, "Tasmanian Tiger versus Siberian Tiger."  
  
"Uncle Kyle, I can't believe yer actually fightin'!"  
  
"Yeah. Let's just hope I don't have to face your father," Kyleran hinted, throwing a strange look Goku's direction. "I don't think I could fight my little brother!"  
  
"Yeah right! What fight? You'd kill 'im with one punch!" Panthara said seriously.  
  
"And then you'd kill me," Kyleran retorted, turning to try and push his way around groups of people to get to Vegeta and DeLito. DeLito hadn't managed to get all the way to Alex, and disobeyed orders by talking with Vegeta.  
  
"M'lord," DeLito said as quietly as he could, "they're angry. The survivors. They keep going on about you."  
  
"I can't go back!" Vegeta hissed. "Not now, not ever!"  
  
"Vegeta," Kyleran broke in, "you :have: to send somebody. What's left of the kingdom, what's left of this :dynasty: is falling. They've listened to me for long enough."  
  
"Don't give me that bullshit, Chancellor," Vegeta threatened Kyleran. "You're greater than that wretched little brother of yours. Kakarott was worthless, but, you. . . if it came down to it, I'd ask you to take my place."  
  
"And I would decline. You know that."  
  
"You have to come back!" DeLito pleaded. "I'm not asking you as Senator, I'm asking you as a friend. We both are. Chancellor Kyleran and I can't hold what remains of the dynasty together. You have to send an heir, at the very least, m'lord."  
  
"What about Alex?"  
  
"James?" Kyleran asked, obviously amused. "That cur? He's turned down the kingdom, too. The boy's a wrangler Vegeta, not a king!"  
  
"Trunks isn't going. He could never handle the kingdom. For one, he's too young. And secondly. . . he doesn't :know: how to live as a Saijin. At least Alex was raised a Saijin."  
  
"Sir?" Lynx interrupted. "At your consent, of course, I would be happy to, uh. . . help."  
  
Kyleran growled. He recognized that tone of voice Lynx was using. That was often how she got her way, no matter how sick it was.  
  
"Help? How could :you: help?" Vegeta asked suspiciously.  
  
"You don't want to know, m'lord. Believe me," Kyleran muttered.  
  
"Keep out of it Chancellor," Lynx ordered. Nobody had ever admitted it, but Lynx had been placed in a higher rank among the Saijin government officials. The only people above her was the royal family.  
  
"And now the great and powerful Chancellor Kyleran Raven is being ordered about by some little human girl?" Vegeta sneered.  
  
"I'm :not: little! I'm thirteen!" Lynx's control had been regained when she broke into the conversation and now she spoke in a British accent, whether she noticed it or not. "And I happen to be Royal Seer." She grinned maliciously.  
  
Vegeta's eyes narrowed then widened as he remembered what "Royal Seer" meant to the Saijin king. "No," he hissed. "Who made her Seer?"  
  
"Uhm. . . I believe it was James, sir," Kyleran said nervously.  
  
Alex was lucky he wasn't there at the moment, because Vegeta would've strangled him to death. "Don't take it personally, Vegeta," Lynx said absentmindedly. "I halfway asked for the rotted job. Alex was just impressed with my :inherited: telepathy. He had nothing to worry about, and as far as he figured, there were no intentions for us to meet."  
  
Vegeta hardly wanted to make eye contact with Lynx, he had a wicked, maniacal expression to her face now. *Somehow. . . she :knows: what a Royal Seer would be to me. And she's thoroughly enjoying the torture she's inflicting on me already!* He gave her a cold, hard stare. "You know what a Seer is to the Saijin king, don't you?"  
  
"Of course, m'lord," Lynx said slowly, without hesitation or confusion. "I realize what my position may get me into."  
  
"You only wish, whelp!" Vegeta growled.  
  
"Hardly, sir," Kyleran said, authority edging his voice. "Think about it: this girl's power and your strength! The most powerful being in the galaxy, I'd reckon."  
  
"Do you even realize what you're hinting at, Kyle!? I will :not:, I repeat, will :not: sleep with some thirteen-year-old human girl!"  
  
"The title doesn't lie, sir," Lynx said. ":Seer: Lynx Gunning. You don't have to :do: anything. The people will just suspect, m'lord. One way or another, you're, how do I say this?. . . screwed." Vegeta flinched at Lynx's choice of words. Lynx just laughed. *Mind torture. Oh I'm lovin' this!*  
  
DeLito had left when the conversation had turned to Lynx. He hadn't wanted to think about it. *A thirteen-year-old human, legally insane! I could never. . . no. I never even :hope: that she is his. . . consort. But, the title says she is,* DeLito thought, shaking his head. *But then again. . . Kyleran's right. Their child could quite possibly be the most powerful being in the galaxy!* DeLito knew in his heart, however, that Vegeta would die before. . . sleeping with some girl who's barely a teenager.  
  
The arguement was interrupted, much to Vegeta's relief, by the announcement for the first match to begin. Just before walking out into the stadium, Krillin gave Alex a nervous look.  
  
Alex no longer looked like a cowboy. He wore black cargo pants that were far to big for him, and fell just below his tail, which meant he had Panthara laughing at him for the white and tan tiger-stripe boxers. Just for the hell of it, he had tied a grey snakeskin bandana around his head.  
  
"Wangstah!!" Lynx yelled at him. For those of you who are uneducated in the language of hip hop, "wangstah" is short for "wannabe ganstah". (A/N: That came from school. Duh. Thank you, Jack Whipple! lol)  
  
Alex just rolled his eyes and followed Krilling out onto the stadium. His one good eye never moved from Krillin, which would make "unnerving" an understatement. Krillin had expected Alex to make the first move, and come at him with a full frontal attack. He didn't realize that Alex never followed Vegeta's fighting style. Alex was a lot more intelligent than he looked, and was an ace strategist, planning out an attack before actually following through with it. So Krillin jumped at the opening and threw the first punch. Alex was, needless to say, uneffected. As Krilling was staggering back, either from shock or something else, Alex jumped a foot off the ground and spun around, his heel connecting with Krillin's skull with a dull crack. There were no broken bones, but Krillin had been soundly beaten, knocked unconcious in one hit.  
  
Goku and the others were struck mute, and quickly stepped back when Alex walked among them. The half-Saijin looked bored and annoyed. He hated fighting, and promised that next time would be different; promised himself that next time, he would just stay a spectator.  
  
"He's quite an amazing young man, Vegeta," Lynx said calmly from the shadows behind Vegeta. "Remarkable. Stronger than any man, Saijin or otherwise, on this planet. And yet he abhors fighting. He will be a great military leader someday. Such a pity he refuses to become king."  
  
Vegeta looked back at her one last time, and for the first time that day, he noticed something else about her. Something that seemed so oddly familiar. And then he remembered: Vietnam. "You. . . you wouldn't happen to know a Sargeant Robert Boyer of the Hundred and First Airborne, would you?"  
  
"He would be my grandfather, if you want a straight answer," Lynx replied, staring out at the mass of people. "Gods do I hate humans," she muttered, so quiet only she could hear.  
  
"You know, I've been to Earth before. About forty years ago. I myself fought in the Hundred and First Airborne," Vegeta said, trying to gain Lynx's interest again. "Your grandfather saved my life twice. Your whole family. . . they were some of the most patient people I've ever met. I owe your family something. Anything."  
  
Lynx looked at him coyly. "Anything, huh?"  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ _____________  
  
I've never been good at writing fight scenes unless it's an animal fight. Well, they've started new episodes of DBZ finally, which means I get to jump times again! All the way to ten years later, at the next tournament! Yayness!  
  
Sorry, Katie. But, look on the bright side, I never actually fought in this one either! Probably not in any other chapters. Oh well! I got to annoy you with more Spanish! Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!! Mwahahahahahahahahaha!!!!! 


	5. The Gold Wolf

Well, I get to use MS Word tonight! Yaay! Formatting! Spell Check!! Okey dokers!

Okay: 10 years later. I think. Yeah, 10 years. Jeez, brain rot.

centerbThe Gold Wolfbcenter

center_________________________________________________________center 

"So, they say they're coming?" Bulma asked, wondering exactly what this "Cloud" character would be like.

Vegeta nodded, looking around the outside of the stadium for "they".  After a few seconds, he smiled and said loudly, "Speak of the devil!"

Lynx, not too far off, turned at the sound of Vegeta's voice, along with the young man that stood beside her.

The boy was maybe eighteen at most, not incredibly tall, but not short. He wore pressed khaki pants, a pressed white silken long-sleeved shirt, and, over the shirt, a sleeveless wine-colored sweater. He stared over his glasses; black, half a centimeter thick-framed glasses. His gold-blonde hair was short and spiked, and he looked to all the world like Gohan's twin, but his face was truly Vegeta's.

Lynx pulled the boy toward Vegeta and Bulma, ignoring his protests of "I just got that shirt back from the cleaners!" and "Mum! Leggo!"

When Lynx and her "son" were standing within talking distance, Vegeta said flatly, "Hello Cloud."

The boy stared blankly. "Huh." Then he smiled, as his memory finally started working. "Haven't seen iyoui in ages. Hard to believe you even recognized me!"

Vegeta tilted his head to the side. "I'll always recognize you, Cloud. Although, I might have to disown you. What's with the clothes?"

Cloud stood up straighter. "I'm a freshman at Harvard! Alex and I both decided a long time ago to change. Alex works at Wall Street now. He's a stockbroker! I know it's not exactly what iyoui would've wanted, and we're both sorry, but. . . oh rot it! There was no way neither of us would ever become fighters! And even Libre-lobo! He's running for Indiana senator!"

"The whole damn family's turning into a bunch of nerds and politicians," Vegeta growled bitterly. "Whatever happened to the Saijin pride!?"

"We're more intelligent than we are powerful. We'd do the world much more good as politicians and, in my case, lawyers than as some warrior. Politicians and lawyers make more money, too. So guess which choice won out?"

Vegeta still wasn't pleased. "Then what about the dynasty!?"

"That'll be taken care of, Vegeta," Lynx cut in. "Once Cloud graduates, he'll take up the kingdom. I just wanted him to have a better education than iIi got. So I have a major in journalism. Big freakin' whoop! I may write for the Indianapolis Star, but that doesn't change the fact that I never went for that Ph. D in Veterinary Medicine like I should've."

"And you actually expected to get anywhere? You haven't aged a day since the tournament ten years ago! Literally! You're still thirteen!" Vegeta shook his head. "What good does ithati do you?"

Lynx grinned evilly and turned on her heel, calling back, "I win an ass-load of awards!"

Cloud sighed. "It's a wonder I'm still sane. With a mother like iheri one would expect to be dead at the least!"

center*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*center

bSecond Match of the Tournament: The Z-Senshi's Suiteb

Alex, dressed similarly to Cloud minus the glasses and with a dark green sweater (A/N: Who expects brothers to dress alike?), was sitting in a back corner completely ignoring the match. He was poring over his clients' stock portfolios, too engrossed in his work to care about fighting at all. Gohan and Cloud were arguing about a made-up case presented to Cloud in one of his classes. Libre-lobo was hissing angry orders at his campaign manager, the unlucky fellow at the other end of Lobo's cell phone. The three of them completely confused Bulma: Alex, the great almighty con artist, a stockbroker; Cloud, the son of Vegeta and some psychopathic midwestern girl, a Harvard Law honors student; and Libre-lobo, grandson of both Goku and Vegeta, a US senator. It was beyond comprehension, that any of Vegeta's descendants could become such politically powerful and intelligent men.

It was Lynx that was the imosti confusing, however. The smack-talking champion of the previous tournament reading iSherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervillesi. For the third time at that! The girl that seemed so uneducated becoming such a well-read newspaper reporter. Newspaper reporter. That was something Bulma never would've expected. And a Purdue University degree. Even more unexpected.

Panthara was fighting however. She hadn't changed. She was still the loud-mouthed wrangler with an emphatic love of horses. Panthara had, thankfully, not lost her love of fighting. Panthara was still Saijin, for all anyone could tell. That was somewhat reassuring: that the Saijin blood wasn't being entirely bred out of Earth-born Saijins or half-Saijins.

Bulma thanked Panthara for a lot. It was Panthara's son, Libre-lobo, that had made Vegeta and Goku realize that there iwasi something more than hatred and anger between the two of them. She had Panthara to thank. And her own son, Alex, even if he had turned from his heritage to take up a quieter life at Wall Street. Those two and Libre-lobo had ended years of feuding. That thought in mind, Bulma remembered something Vegeta had said twenty-two years ago: that feuds often ran deep among Saijin clans, especially between the Raven's and Drache's. Ancient family arguments often couldn't be broken, no matter what.

*iWell, three people changed centuries of war. They changed Saijin culture as everybody knows it,i* Bulma thought. *iIf three people are capable of ithati, then maybe the entire race can be saved someday.i*

Her train of thought was completely disturbed by Gohan asking her a question about the untrue case him and Cloud had been debating about for the past twenty minutes. It was sickeningly obvious how irrelevant the question turned out to be. "Gohan, stop asking stupid questions! Talk about it with Libre-lobo. He's the politician!"

Gohan didn't argue or act hurt or anything, he just went right back to fighting with Cloud, and now Libre-lobo, about the case. He gave up after a few minutes: there was no way he would be able to beat an uncle-nephew team like Lobo and Cloud, even if Lobo was ihisi nephew too.

It was amazing to see Cloud and Gohan getting along as well as they did. Bulma had noticed from the start that Cloud was much more patient and kind, and usually air headed, than Vegeta. It wasn't Goku versus Vegeta all over again. The only obvious differences between Cloud and Goku were their looks and the fact that Cloud was actually intelligent, which was more than could be said for Goku!

Bulma couldn't tell whether to worry about Cloud and Gohan's friendship or just let it be.

"Haven't you seen how well Gohan and that Cloud boy get along?" ChiChi asked quietly. "It's almost like they don't even care who the other's father is. I never imagined it possible!"

"Me neither. We best leave them alone. Whatever it is that they have in common may be able to stop whatever argument the Raven's and Drache's have."

"It's the scholar issue. They're actually ignoring the fact that Saijins are supposed to be great warriors and not lawyers! Maybe that's what could change the Saijin race so that they can survive: intelligence and patience over hatred and fighting. Chancellor Kyleran says that the Saijin survivors have found a new planet."

That was, in fact, true. The survivors of Vegetasai had discovered an uninhabited planet. The government was currently undergoing a severe reworking to support Cloud's intellectual and strategic way of commanding. Clan territories were being established in a less violent-more logical method. And searches for any remaining survivors on Earth were being conducted. About twenty or so Saijins had been found somewhere on Earth, much more than any other planet. Kyleran, DeLito, and Lynx were more than pleased.

The future, as far as anyone could see, looked promising for the Saijins. What government officials remained just hoped and prayed that their plans would, for once in a century, work out.

center_________________________________________________________center

Wow. . . 3 ¾ of a page! Whoopee! And formatted. I hope. Okay, that chapter was increasingly boring. Pardon me, but I'm not in the mood for writing anything. . . action. Bleh. . .

Well, tell me what you think. I reeeeally appreciate it. Just. . . don't flame. Please. Be nice. 

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